Michael James Fosburg is Here!

Okay seriously, isn't he so adorable?

I'm so excited to announce the birth of our third son, Michael James on July 12th, 2016 at 1332.  He weighed an amazing 10lbs. 6oz. and was 22.5in long.  He was so long he almost couldn't fit the measuring tool for infants!  Cracks me up!

 The very last pre-baby pregnant me picture!

I can't believe he's finally here!  We were totally shocked to be pregnant at all, and then to travel all the way to Washington State to have him, and then traveling all the way back home; it has been quite an adventure to get him here.

I was so grateful to have a wonderful OB here with Dr. Zahra Alamooti, and then to get Dr. Brown at Valley OBGYN was amazing.  Fantastic doctors for a girl having her sixth little one!  Dr. Zahra did an ultrasound at every visit so I literally watched Michael grow from his first appearance. And Dr. Brown was so kind and funny and he actually listened to my concerns and my opinions.  Between the two of them Michael and I were very well taken care of the entire time!

What else do you do when waiting to get started?

Dr. Brown even let me choose the induction date, the earliest date possible, of course!  We arrived at 6am and by 9am we were getting my lovely epidural.  Unfortunately, things always go a little wonky for me.  Chris laughs that it seems to be just the way things are in my life.  The epidural eventually was wonderful, but some major pain was had when the needle went a bit too close to a nerve on my left side.  Thankfully, it was short lived.  The part they forget to tell you when  you get that shot is that labor has to be regular first.  So it's not like you skip the whole thing.  I had forgotten how much I hate contractions.  Anyway, it wasn't too long before my little big guy showed up.

Proud papa for the sixth time!

When he came everyone was super surprised by how big he was!  He actually got stuck, not just shoulders like normal kids, but his chest too.  He was so much bigger than anyone, but Chris and I, had expected.  He was so big he came out purple!  He also came silently.  Not so good.  You could feel the tension, it was not good.  It took a good few seconds before he finally cried and even then it wasn't very loud.  Made everybody so nervous.  It was a really surreal experience for me because usually I'm so out of it by the time my little ones show up that i don't usually remember any of the first few minutes of their lives.  This time I remember everything.  He was so amazing and so fun to hold after imagining what he'd look like for 10 months.  He's a cutie.  Totally a Fosburg: black hair, blue eyes, long fingernails, and totally cute button nose, just like his siblings.

My last hospital/birth picture.  I so love my Michael James!

It was only a little while before visitors began to come for a peek at our new son.  Both the Fosburgs and the Morris' came to see us.  It was so nice to have them be there so quickly.  It was a major departure from the first five.  I was always a bit high strung when it came to the hospital part of having my kids so I always waited a while to let anyone come.  Several of my kids were born too far away from family for it to even be possible.  Michael should have been born in country, but our insurance doesn't cover that here, so I got to be around my family for the birth of my last child.  Such a neat unlooked for blessing!

Nana and her newest grandson look so good together!

Grama is soo happy! Even Grampa is super excited.

The best part of the whole things was later that day a photographer came in and took pictures of the three of us right there in our room at my feet. She was so kind and asked my input on all the poses and types of pictures.  It was such a nice service, especially since newborn pix were high on my list of necessary activities.  So I went to the hospital very uncomfortable and pregnant and came home less than 48 hrs later with an adorable newborn and adorable photographs.  For a multitasking mama, it was quite the event!

And then it was quiet.  My kids were safe, my baby was happy, my husband was exhausted; we all rested.

Mommy and Me Date - Evelynn

I so love doing this!  We started these special "dates" with our kids a couple years ago when Evie turned 5.  As each kid turns 5 we start taking them out on dates.  Sometimes it's simple, like going to Costco, just the two of us, with a sundae to finish off the night.  Sometimes it's a bit more elaborate, like going ice skating and lunch or pedicures and treats.

Tonight was an impromptu date night thanks to one of my best friends on the island here.  Renea is my next door neighbor, life saver, last minute babysitter, and all around fantastic friend.  She had tickets to see a movie, but decided it wouldn't work for her family.  Instead she offered them to me!

So I decided to take Evie to the movie Max, about a military dog and his handler's little brother.  She loved it, even though she talked all the way through!  Cracked me up.  She said her favorite part was the happy ending.  My kind of girl!  After the movie she even was brave enough to touch the "working dog" the MWR had brought in to highlight how special these animals really are.  I was very proud.

After the movie we dropped by McD's for a late dinner and a yummy strawberry milkshake.  Of course I showed her the ONLY real way to eat a milkshake: with fries dipped into it.  She liked it or so she said, but she'll probably not do it again.

We had so much fun together tonight.  I so enjoy these one on one times with my biggest girl.  She is such a sweetheart when she's not trying to be in charge or fighting for my attention.  I adore her and her quirky thoughts that just pop right out of her mouth.  I swear that girl has not one thought that has run through her mind that hasn't come right our her mouth.  So funny.  At least you always know what's going on with her.

She is so amazing and I'm so blessed to get to be her mom.  She's pretty patient with my attempts to do right by her and I'm grateful for my right hand gal.

So love her!  Yay for mommy and me dates!

My House Almost Burned Down - or Close to it!

So my Evie is wonderful and fantastic and totally thinks she is super able to do whatever she wants to do.

With that knowledge about my beautiful Evelynn, you have to also understand that she really does know a lot.  When I say "a lot", I really mean it.  She's my go to girl for so many things.  She helps with the littler kids, she likes to help with shopping and chores, she likes to be in charge.  She is my 'babysitter helper' for when I have an uncertain sitter.  (I have five children under 9, all my sitters are uncertain to a degree!)

So when I left for a dr. appt yesterday leaving my kids with a very good friend of mine and Visiting  Teacher who had never watched my kids before I was unconcerned.  I walked her through some things, but knew that most of the sitter's questions could be answered by Eve.  I was confident that things would be fine, like always.

That's what I get though for being too comfortable with my big little girl!

So my poor, kind friend is surprised by a house full of smoke about an hour before I get home!  She runs inside and finds out that for some reason Evie thought it would be okay to pop her own popcorn. She's never touched the microwave before or even asked about it before, for that matter.  But now, all of a sudden, she thinks that it's okay for her to use it on her own?  I have no clue what was going on and after a discussion with her, she hasn't got a clue either.  Apparently the idea popped in her head and she did it without any thought whatsoever.

I don't know, but the fact that she could have burned down my house because she randomly wanted to use the microwave was a huge wake-up.  I took her abilities to help for granted.

I'm very happy with how I handled it though.  I didn't get angry and I didn't yell.  I asked her about the incident and then told her what she was not going to be able to do as a consequence.  Then I told her why what she had done was wrong.  She was really embarrassed by her behavior and disciplined herself much more harshly than I would have done.

All I have to say at this point when she asks why she can't do something is that she almost burned down my house and her behavior changes/stops immediately! I don't think it will last for a long time, but I'm using it while I can.

Ahh, kids.  Not sure if it will get worse on her end, but I've got five so my odds aren't good on this not happening again!  Good thing I have a short memory and a forgiving heart!